The previous owners had a small dog that lifted it legs on 5 corners of my entry way and hall and now they are rusting through! The dog was really small so from the floor, the damage goes up no more than 6-8 inches. The paint is bubbling and cracking off and the corner pieces of metal are rusting.

Do I just scrape all the paint off and apply a "rust stop" type paint and then patch with joint compound, prime and repaint? Do I need to go beyond the visible damage? Any tricks for getting a smooth finish? Thanks in advance.

 

Most any oil base primer will work but IMO it would be better to use a pigmented shellac primer [like zinnser's BIN] which has better adhesion and sealing properties. Be sure to coat any/all stains with the primer, this will prevent both the stain and any odor from rising to the top.

Assuming that you have slick finish walls, all you need to do is apply the j/c the best you can, sand and repeat as needed. Don't forget to prime the new j/c when finished.

 

Thanks marksr! Should I cut out the metal edge that is rusting? It is protruding about 1/4" up each corner of the wall. I guess just from the rust build up under the paint and the metal deteriorating.
If not cut out which will leave a big gap to fill in, is it possible to sand it and hammer it back in? Am I suppsoed to try and get all the rust off first or just cover it with the primer?

 

If you remove the corner bead you will have to replace it. As long as it is straight [or can be straightned] I wouldn't remove it. Use nails or screws to secure it to the stud if loose. Sand off the worst of the rust and prime with a solvent based primer. Joint compound will blend in the rest.

 

Thanks so much! I am off to the store so wish me luck! No matter what, it will look better than it does right now!

 

Found the zinnser's BIN right away, thanks so much! But it is going to take more than that!

I have pulled off the baseboard and there is a HOLE! The metal corner bead is completely rusted away at the bottom and the sheet rock is crumbled too. I scraped off as much rust as I could and basically there is NO corner left. There is a gap of about an inch between the subfloor and where the wall begins going straight up abd is about 1 inch long on both sides of the corner. Can I just put joint compound over a patch with new tape to fill this?

This is just prep work for having hardword floors installed and I am sure the new baseboard is going to cover the bottom. Should I spray in some of that foam insulation stuff first to give it some "body" to cover?

 

As long as it will be hid by the base I wouldn't worry none. It doesn't hurt anything to have a gap at the very bottom. You can mud and tape if you need to in order for the base to set solid/level. I'd skip the spray foam unless you have an uninsulated gap on an exterior wall - there should be plenty of insulation in the wall.

 

marksr, Oh thank goodness for your post! Once I started and it was so so bad, I had to pull back the carpet and it reeks! Now I am just ripping out the carpet and the subfloor still reeks too. How do I fix that? Will being exposed to air after all these years fix it? Is there something to put on it?

I am hating this house! If I touch something, it just snowballs into something else worse than the first think! It all started with the hole in the ceiling...but at least the popcorn is all gone...

 

You should probably try some of the pet odor cleaners. If that doesn't work coating the area with a heavy coat of BIN will seal in the odor.

Fixing up your home isn't always a fun task. Try to think about how proud you will be when it's finished. Once done all the aggravation and hard work will just be a memory.

 

marksr, thanks for your encouragement! The wood was delivered yesterday much earlier than I expected and they ripped out all the carpets and tile. Now I see that 4 more corners have to be fixed!

I think I made a mistake on the first 3 because I scraped as much rust off, applied the joint compound with the patch tape to form new corners and then on top of it all, painted the Zin stuff. Was I supposed to put the shellac directly over the rust before the joint compound?

The wood is beautiful so I think the project will be worth all the headaches. The painter did come back last night and said he uses Kelly Moore in his business. Is this a good paint? He had the exact white that I liked and painted a few patches so I could see how it will look. Now I have to pick a color for the kitchen and finish scraping off the last bit of wall paper. The cabinets are dark stained and the countertops and appliances are all white. Should I even pick a color or just do white in there too?

 

I think the product you're talking about is Benjamin Moore (some people call it Benny Moore for short) and I personally put it at one of the top interior paints that I've used.

As for the color, it's a personal opinion. I don't like white walls anywhere in my house, but sometimes it just "fits" right.

 

" Was I supposed to put the shellac directly over the rust before the joint compound? "


Yes that will do a better job at stopping/sealing the rust but it will probably be ok.